jake2095: Great video Xeno, This is a great resource for anyone looking to get into the job. My only criticism comes from the Opener. I'm curious why your first FoF is after fast blade, is it because it's better for raid buffs? If you delay opener FoF until after Royal Authority, it reaches the full Confiteor combo and the Atonement combo. Sepulchre hits for a lot of damage, even more than a buffed Holy Spirit. So it would be optimal to not use your first buffed Holy spirit in your opening FoF and instead fit the whole Atonement combo.

Makkle4000: SHIELD MODE

maxofthewest9: bald

OfLaSoul: OGs putting us on game again, thank you my liege.

Raven_Konaim: Fantastic Video on PLD man. Been a PLD main since 2013 it feels good having PLD be in a great spot

combaned9823: DO DRK KNIGHT PLSSSSSSSSSS

genesisSOC: As a PLD main, I've always felt PLD should be lowest DPS tank but have the best utility, defensives, support, heals and overall main tank energy to fulfill the proper class fantasy

JaceRS3: hell yeah man, this was helpful, decided to learn PLD (and tank in general) for this tier

BrianStuf: 1 view, tithead fell off

jmpbus5086: I adore passage as is (it feels like a cheat anyways since we have holy veil). I looooove the idea of a tank have to get everyone behind them, it's so visually and conceptually cool to me.

sgjuxta: Seeing you mention fast

Dartanis: A review of Xenos guide as a paladin main who doesnt really do extreme/savage and plays mostly more casual content(no group, introvert):

The explanation is perhaps a bit messy but getting across how the Paladin rotation works is certainly not easy. The rotation is, but explaining the nuance to a new player isnt. As far as I could follow along its spot on besides the opener IN CASUAL/SOLO content. From a more casual/solo perspective you should just go into your Requiescat combo immedietely wihtout ever touching Fast Blade. Where you line up Goring blade doesnt really matter as long as you put Requiescat and Fight or Flight on CD asap. The rest, spot on no complaints rotation explained about as well as one can.

I agree on Xenos perspective of Hallowed Ground (and other tank CDs) in Extreme/savage content. From that lens the CD is king and the only real consideration is "does this button prevent me from dying?"

HOWEVER, from a more casual/solo lens, Holmgang is by far and by a wide margin the WORST "oh shit" button in the game. Its not useless, but in solo, 4 man or normal content any other tank CD is now far FAR better. I dont infact remember the last time I pressed Holmgang because with warriors current kit its just that much of an empty jacket. From where Xeno is standing Yoshi-Ps comment makes no sense because in Extreme/savage the difference between 100% mitigation and "you still take full damage but cant die" is mostly semantic. In the type of content MOST people are going to play however, Hallowed Ground is absolutely the best Tank CD, closely followed by Superbolide because its no longer a 5% chance to die button. Living Dead is 3rd because it requires a PhD in FFXIV game design to understand, but atleast its no longer just a worse Holmgang.

Let me put it this way, you do the beginning mass pull in Mt. Gulg and you can now pick ANY one of the 4 big tank CDs and you are trying to make your healers job easier. Which do you pick, and which one does your healer notice you pressed? From that healers perspective Holmgang did NOTHING. Living Dead was one big ??? but ok your alive, I dont know how and I didnt do anything but you lived and your at mostly full HP again so... A ? Superbolide: "Oh JESUS CHRIST HEAL HE- hang on a minute! Stop giving me a heart atta- SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!". And lastly Hallowed Ground: "So...... are you planning on taking damage any time so- OH SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!". For Warrior this doesnt really matter because Warrior doesnt need Holmgang, they have Raw Intuition/Bloodwhetting instead which in dungeon content is just flat out better than all the tank CDs and nothign beats that cooldown.

My point is, which big tank CD is best dependes on context and Xenos is often entirely focused on Savage raid context, to the detriment of all other scenarios.

As for Cover: 100% agree why the F* is it tied to our gauge? Its still on my hotbar, sorta, but only because I had nothing else to put there, and the few rare times I do want to press it its not availabel because I HAVE NO GAUGE TO USE IT!

retzerbil867: I'm a gnb main, and in m6s I swapped to paladin to solo heal myself. No other tank can solo heal m6s double Yan as ot week 1. Goated job

noel7769: the opener he's presenting is crap, right ?

SammichEnjoyer: Doomtrain I've found that PLD shines when done properly, it hardly ever misses buff window and you can change your burst rotation to make you never loose up time

memecrusader5824: cover should get you a mount

That_Gaming_Orange_Cat: Palidan, do the basic rotation, hit ur ogcds and use mits, glowing buttons are cool too

Hallowed ground needs a shorter cool down in 2026.

NomoregoodnamesD8: Dodge / Miss / Invulnerable > Crit > Block > Parry

deelanmj: I'll preface this by saying I started playing around the 5.x patches, so I wasn't around when Cover was still super OP. Personally, I'll be happy if SE just remove the gauge cost for it and keep the long cooldown. I don't agree with removing it entirely because it's part of paladin's job identity as the party's protector.

Thanks for this video, Xeno! I always love it whenever PLD gets the spotlight because I love this tank so much. I hope SE takes notice.

techdeth: Thanks for being the best unpaid FFXIV dev at Squeenix baldy ... you making it happen for us all

Madoyon.: Hope this series won't end on GNB and PLD and we'll see a MANMODE WAR video soon. Fuck DRK though fppong

akridx5712: Also, all PLD mains wear a chastity cage for more protection. Like a turtle! Unlike us WAR mains that go buck wild like an elephants trunk! All strong and fierce like a bear as well! That's why only the top tier WAR mains are built like the fabled wooly mammoth! All hairy and strong! Too bad that Xenos is bald! Lmao!

obamaorb7426: PLD doing too much damage is something I agree with this expansion, given it's flexibilty if any tank should do less damage, it's PLD.

Last expensive I'd have said otherwise though, it still had the same flexibility but it didn't really matter then because all the fights were full uptime anyway except for like, one GCD each in P8, 10 and 12 phase 1

richiemahon8132: hey xeno, just wanted to let you know intervention only gains a buff from rampart or guardian. you cant pop both then buff your co tank by 40% mit, but man i wish it worked that way thatd be pretty sick. you do however get them to around 28% or so with knights resolve effect for the first 4 seconds. awesome vid though!

Jan 01 2026

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